Non-Compliance

In North Carolina we have an antiquated, Jim Crow era Pistol Purchase Permit that only 2 or 3 other states have. It is required to get one even for private sales of handguns. So we essentially do have UBCs for handguns, at least.

We are in the process, via House Bill 562, of trying to get this repealed, and are, once again, just like two years ago, facing opposition from our anti-liberty, pro-tyranny (as ‘discretion’ is the very definition of tyranny: the Rule of Men vs. the Rule of Law) NC Sheriffs’ Association. And Bloomberg is spending his millions under the auspices of the demanding mommies.

But what was interesting is that, through a few phone calls to DAs and court clerks, it’s been discovered that selling a pistol in a private sale without a PPP (or a Concealed Handgun Permit, which suffices according to statute as well) isn’t something that is ever used in any prosecution. I.e.: it is never enforced and is likely ignored by most private sellers and buyers.

Technically, the seller is not even required to take possession of the PPP or ask to see the CHP. And even if you do, you can put it in the circular file or shred it and not be in violation of the law. And the way the law is written, even an FFL dealer is not required to take possession of the PPP, though you’d be hard pressed to find one that wouldn’t. Both the CHP and PPP are good for five years. And therein lies the problem for our sheriffs: they can issue a PPP and a year later, the recipient could commit a crime that makes him ‘prohibited person’. Yet he can go buy a gun without a background check *at an FFL*, because the NICS check was already done. There is a mechanism for the CHP to be revoked, but not the PPP.

Now, mind you, I’m not in support of the requirement for a PPP, CHP, or even a NICS check. They are all useless and infringements on the human right to keep and bear arms. But my point is that the PPP, NC’s UBC for handguns, is largely ignored by buyers and sellers.

But we’re still pikers compared to the guys and gals in WA. They’ve stared down Leviathan and caused him to blink. We’re unlikely to face the degree of state-level tyranny they do now in WA. At least not in the near term. I pray that if we ever do, there will be enough brave souls to stand against it as they have.